The Three-Legged Stool

Are you interested in achieving Financial Independence (FI) either before or after your pensionable career?  So was I two years ago, so I started educating myself on personal finances. For those of you who’ve read Grumpus Maximus vs. The Golden Albatross, you know I’ve now spent more time researching FI than I did studying for my degrees. FI blogs, books, and podcasts are the three primary resources I used (and still use) to expand my knowledge. Think of them as a three-legged stool for FI knowledge, and I intend to post on all three “legs” in the future.  I decided to start with FI blogs, so below are links to 5 + 1 FI blogs that I’ve found extremely useful during my financial education project.

My three-legged stool of FI knowledge will hopefully lead to someplace like this…

JL Collins

http://jlcollinsnh.com/ — Jim Collins, often referred to as the Godfather of the FI movement, is a wealth of practical knowledge.  Start your journey by reading his Manifesto and, more importantly, his Stock Series. This same information is distilled in his book The Simple Path to Wealth, one of two books I use as a reference for plotting my path to FI.  Reading this blog made me realize that ‘retiring’ from the military and never ‘working’ again was a real possibility.  I constantly referred to the blog as I made my retirement plans, and it gave me a sense of confidence in my financial decisions. 

JL Collins’ path is simpler than this, although not quite as beautiful

Can I Retire Yet

http://www.caniretireyet.com/ — This is the other blog site and book that I use to plot my retirement course. Darrow Kirkpatrick initially started the site. His advice is less aggressive than JL Collins’s. It also makes some alternate recommendations for retirement investments at different stages of life. His blogging about financial / retirement calculators is the best. You cannot effectively calculate your retirement needs without a few good calculators. Reading this blog and book gave me the ability to calculate my retirement needs effectively.

Can you retire yet and take gratuitous retirement photography?

Mr. Money Mustache

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/ — Mr. Money Mustache gets a lot of press in the Financially Independent Retire Early (FIRE) Community and beyond because he and his wife “retired” at 30 to raise their kid. FIRE, or Financial Independence Retire Early, is a lifestyle movement that advocates for frugality and saving to achieve financial independence and retire early.  He posts about various subjects like low-cost index funds and frugal living. He also preaches a lot about how great early retirement life is (which gets a bit old).  There is more good than bad on the blog, though, so I would recommend it to anyone seriously thinking of retiring early.  It is also written entertainingly.

The Mad Fientist

http://www.madfientist.com/ — If you want to geek out on the numbers, this is the site to go to.  It hosts numerous great posts showing the math behind the recommendations for investing in certain types of accounts (i.e., 401K vs. Roth IRA) in order to maximize gains, minimize costs, and take advantage of significant tax breaks.  However, this is written with the FIRE community specifically in mind, so Mad Fientist’s recommendations are tailored to 30-somethings in private sector jobs and mostly ignore people who might have a pension or other means of fixed income in early retirement.

For those of us in the military, this site can be a lifeline

The Military Guide

The Military Guide | Military Financial Independence — This site is specifically dedicated to military members and centers on becoming FI.  It studies retirement benefits, TSP, differences between Guard/Reservist and active-duty retirements, and the new Blended Retirement System, among other things. There are now a myriad of different, slicker military financial independence websites, but this is the original FI blog dedicated to military members. 

And my plus one …

The Wealthy Accountant

http://wealthyaccountant.com/ — I learned a lot of insider information regarding taxes and retirement savings from this site.  Although he is friends with many of the above bloggers, he is not necessarily a FIRE believer.  As the Wealthy Accountant points out, he likes his job and has no intention of retiring early.  This blog is also written humorously and, like many of the above blogs, also incorporates some philosophical thinking on life.

Conclusion

So, that is the FI blog “leg” of my three-legged stool of FI knowledge.  Each of these websites link to plenty of other blogs within the FIRE community from which you should be able to expand your understanding immensely on any given subject.  Who knows, maybe one day, they will link to this site.  Until then, I encourage you to dive into these resources and start your journey toward financial independence. Happy reading!